The return, for a final season, of The Thick of It and news that Yes Minister is to be revived for the small screen might suggest that comedies about politics are back with a vengance.
However, the first new episode of The Thick of It, broadcast on BBC2, was watched by just over 1.5 million, less than a repeat of Dad’s Army shown earlier that Saturday evening; while Yes Minister is to be screened by the subscription channel Gold, so audiences are set to be smaller still.
There was a time however when politics was depicted in situation comedies about everyday life, ones shown at peak times and so watched by millions. In this post on my personal blog I highlight the role that politics played in some of them, including, most notably, Steptoe and Son.
These comedy programmes are themselves a cynical and therefore hostile view of the noble art of politics. Parties are disorganised hypocracy but the system wouldn’t work without them.Disillusionment grows because the country is a f*cked up failure. QED